Evropa (Europe) was the main hotel in Oteshevo tourist complex, built around 90s at the end of the socialist era. Rated 5 stars, it was one of the most luxurious hotels in former Yugoslavia and was promising that this region will continue to attract tourists from all over the world. Sadly after just couple of years the circumstances (crushing of the socialist system, corrupted privatization process…) led to closure of the entire complex and today it is just a ghost town. This place brings old memories to lots of people who remember the time when Oteshevo was a big tourist attraction.

A sound recordist, a singer and a photographer gathered and entered this haunted building with an intention. They were capturing photographs and the sound of the space and the surrounding. Did recordings of the beautiful voice of Genoveva singing, catching the natural reverb of the large halls, but also the sound of the huge broken windows scattered around the floors. This is a picture of the atmosphere of that abandoned hotel, corresponding with the current atmosphere of the land with the same name. Close your eyes and try to feel the energy of the environment and the crush of the civilization of the new era.

vocals: Genoveva Kachurkova
photos: Petar Petkovski
sound/concept/editing: Toni Dimitrov

This is a story about mountain village Lazaropole, Western Macedonia, village that is at 1350 masl as one of the highest settlements in the country. Incredible and beautiful place that is located on the plateau of Mount Bistra, surrounded by beech and oak forests. It is a very important spot for Macedonian history with lots of cultural heritage. Now the village is abandoned and theres no permanent residents there aside of the successors of the people that lived there coming for the weekend, occasional excursionists or hikers.
This piece is dedicated to this village and its history, also its sound and the natural beauty; actually it is an audio documentary that includes whole process of exploring about the history of the village. The piece includes sounds recorded in the surrounding of the village, peaks, forest, churches. There are also interviews with authors that were writing books about the village or  its history. Also Emili Slavkovska was singing in the 4 churches placed at 4 different sides of the village. Her voice is enriched with the natural reverb of the churches and its space. The poetry by Jovan Lambeski from his book of songs dedicated for the village was also read in the old central church of the village.
Recently a group of young people started a series of creative weekends there in order to bring alternative culture and young people there, so already for a year lots of creative young people are doing workshops and performances there. The next one is a project about field recordings and soundscape where a group of artists were doing recordings and performing sessions in this beautiful place immersed in the inexhaustible source of sounds isolated from the hustle and noise of the city and the chaos of urban life. Part of this beauty and history we I am trying to capture and transfer here.

title: Lazaropole story
author: Toni Dimitrov
length: 27′ 49″
genre: audio documentary
recordings, editing and directed: Toni Dimitrov
questions: Natali Slavkovska
music and singing: Emili Slavkovska (recorded in the churches around Lazaropole)
poetry by: Jovan Lambeski

On the path of a word / Promaja
The draft, is not a draft in the Balkans. This sound is a search, a search made as a draft, a draft running from language to language, from country to country, slapping doors, searching answers in the waves or within the scientific community. Collective and multi-language, a sound experiment by Béatrice André.

По патот на еден збор / промаја
Провев не е провев на Балканот. Туку промаја. Овој звук е истражување, истражување направено како промаја, промаја која се движи од јазик до јазик, од земја до земја, треска врати, барајќи одговори низ брановите или во рамките на научната заедница. Мулти-јазик, звучен експеримент од Беатрис Андре.

Sur les pas d’un mot /Promaja
Le courant d’air, n’est pas un courant d’air dans les Balkans. Cette pièce sonore est une quête, une recherche faite au fil du vent, passant de langues en langues, de pays à pays Cherche l’impalpable, des réponses dans les vagues, ou auprès de la communauté scientifique. Multilingue et collective, une expérimentation sonore de Béatrice André.

Béatrice André made 411^th RADIA episode for Kanal 103. Беатрис Андре ја создаде 411^th RADIA епизода за Канал 103.
www.leapromaja.net

Thanks to Nathalie Coranti,  Terence Theureau, Bernard de Vienne, Charles Aimard, Gordana de Cetinje, AlF., Kujtime Presheva, and Dr. Lazo Pekevski, Seismological Observatory in Skopje, Macedonia, Dr. Gianfranco Magni, Italian space agency.

Credit for the photgraphy. Creative commons, Tomislava Sekulić.

12 artists put themself, together with a ton of equipement, into a van and get on the trip on the mountain village Lazaropole at 1300 masl. They occupied a old village house, set the equipement and started workling on various fields of art, focusing on the sound. The sound of nature. they went there because they were isolated from the rush and noise from the city and the chaos of the urban life. Because they love soundscape and field recordings. They love to make music and perform together. Because in Lazaropole they were immersed in an inexhaustible source of sounds. Because the village is surrounded with breathtaking places. Because they love nature! What you’ll listen is the result of that stay.

Last year Kanal 103 celebrated 20 years of its first broadcast. Kanal 103 is important (terrestrial) radio station that determined the underground scene and the open mindedness in Skopje and beyond. Kanal 103 is the only non-commercial radio station in Macedonia with cult following among the audience. Transmitting since 1991, it’s promoting avant-garde music and ideas, and is responsible for the most important cultural transformations in the region. During its existence there were produced lots of jingles, radio pieces and short radio dramas with strong ideological and anti-state edge. In this honor we produced this audio collage as a homage to this past 20 years of independence, surfing through the history of the audio production. Kanal 103 – 20 years of freedom!

“The listener would recognise the programme because nobody else in Skopje plays music from Frank Zappa to post-rock and from Kraftwerk to modern techno.” prof. Rajko Muršič (University of Ljubljana)

“I think the radio station is one of my favouite places in the world, like a small satellite floating in space, beaming out joy from cold labyrinths of madness.” Daniel Potter (The White Funz)

http://www.kanal103.com.mk
http://www.myspace.com/kanal103
http://www.last.fm/user/Kanal103
http://twitter.com/kanal103

Welcome to my October 26th, 2011. A baby, pedestrian streets, danse and art performances. All sounds are extracted from recordings of this very day, in a circle of one kilometre in the very centre of Macedonian capital city. Partly collective, as people from the old town got involved in the direction the microphone took, as well as Swedish performers, arrived for a festival in Macedonia.

Author colaborator for KANAL 103 is Béatrice André, (in residence) in Skopje. Créatrice sonore and journalist from France. Special thanks to Marko, Aziz, Arif. And to Markus Doverud and Mårten Spångberg – for their off-voices and performances.